Boundless As the Sea
by Kaguya Hiroshi
Summary: The Kingdom of Camelot wishes to request needed wares from the wealthy coastal Kingdom of Edain. Little did Uther Pendragon know that this trade would come at such an...interesting price. But with the onset of winter coming around the heated bend of summer, can the King afford to deny any offer, even if Arthur must "pay the price"? MerlinOC ArthurOC OCxOC. Rated M just to be safe.


Alright. While getting back to some of my older stories that I noticed I had been abandoning for the past..(What? Two years or so? Maybe more? ) I was also watching a new favorite show of mine, Merlin. Well. I became inspired. I love Arthurian legend, so I decided to write a fanfiction. It's been a long while since I've written, so forgive me please, I am rusty. I just want to say quickly, that I do not own Merlin, I believe BBC does. So please don't hurt me! D:

_-:-Boundless As the Sea-:-_

"_Sometimes the slightest things change the directions of our lives, the merest breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite striking the earth. Lives have swiveled and changed direction on the strength of a chance remark."_

― _Bryce Courtenay_

_-:-Prologue: Letters and Seals-:-_

-:-

_Scrch scrch….drip drip….tap tap….scrch scrch scrch scrch scrchscrch…._

The scratching of the quill was all that could be heard in the candlelit room, the sound quick yet very soothing as the pen flew across the page. An older man sat at his desk, the sleeves of his robes pushed back up his arms to keep them out of his work. His head remained bowed over the parchment in front of him as he wrote. Every once in a while, the sound would stop as the man looked up, his silver haired head rising as he glanced across the room to the corner. It was in that corner that a chair sat, with its back facing to him. His silver gray eyes softened from their narrowed concentration as he would let out a sigh. Unlike the countless number of times he had done this over the past hour since the sun had set, he spoke this time.

"Are you su-" He started, his expression troubled, the signs of worry evident upon his aged brow. His words were interrupted however, by an equally weary sigh. As if taking that for an answer, he nodded in defeat, understanding that the decision could not be changed. Looking down at the parchment beneath his feathered quill, he realized that his letter had finally come to an end. Taking both the seal ring and the wax from the corner of his desk, he marked the letter with his seal before setting it off to the side, waiting for it to dry.

"All of the preparations are finished and the letter is complete. You can leave at first light. However, I cannot guarantee that he will agree to the conditions…" Hefeydd shook his head slowly as he spoke to the chair. He knew he would not receive an answer to his words, so he instead rose up from his chair, the wooden pegs scraping across the stone floor as he turned to the window behind him. Holding his hands behind his back, he toyed with the ring around his finger, twisting it around as was his habit when he became agitated. While he looked down at the courtyard laid out before him through the glass, he heard the rustle of fabric and light footsteps against the floor. He did not startle when he felt a hand on his shoulder nor when it gave an almost sympathetic, or perhaps apologetic, squeeze. However, he did feel a great sense of loss when the hand slipped away, the sound of the feet retreating, only to vanish as the creak, then click of the door's lock when it shut behind them.

"I can only pray…that you remain safe." Hefeydd murmured as his gaze rose to the night sky hanging above them, praying beyond all hope that his prayers would be answered, that no harm would come to pass, though he knew with a heavy heart, that it may come to be. After he heard the movement in the corridor fade away, he crossed the room to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. To the left of the door, just outside it, he saw the knight at his post. The man was clad in the traditional garb of a knight of the realm: chainmail over which was a tunic of dark blue bearing the crest of a silver phoenix soaring over a pale blue crescent, and a deep blue cloak fastened around his neck, a sword strapped at his hip. Nodding to him, he reached out to clap a hand to the youth's shoulder as he offered the lad a small smile, though the gesture did not reach his eyes.

"Pwyll. It is good to see you." The man greeted the knight. Pwyll smiled in return, inclining his auburn haired head as a gesture of respect, his emerald eyes lowering only for a moment before meeting the man's gaze.

"Your Majesty." The youth greeted his liege. The King glanced over the knight's shoulder down the hall as he let out a sigh. Seeing his lord's distress, he laid a gloved hand on the weary man's shoulder.

"All will be well. I will see to it." Pwyll answered, as if knowing what was pressing on the King's mind. Hefeydd nodded, knowing that Pwyll would do all that he could to make sure that the plans would go off without a hitch. Perhaps it was just his nature as a King to worry.

"I know my friend. I trust you. As I trusted your father, and my father trusted your father's father. You just know that I worry for…" Pwyll interrupted him with a shake of his head.

"I know. But what is done, is done. I will do all that I can to ensure a safe passage. We will leave at dawn with the shipment. It will be a week's ride to Camelot, but we will make sure to take the safest roads, so as not to run into any brigands." Hefeydd nodded, his hand slipping from his knight's shoulder before he stepped around the man to walk down the hallway.

"Come, it is late dear friend…and dawn will be soon upon us. Let us rest." Both lord and knight strode down the corridor and vanished around the corner.

-:-

Alright…so that was the first chapter. I hope that it was not too bad. Like I said, I am still really rusty. I'm, at this point, having to bounce a lot of ideas off of my friend Rose whom I RP with, so hopefully we can get this started! I will try to update as often as I can. I am sick right now, so between sleeping and figuring out finances and such, I will write as much as I can and post it when possible. Oh. And don't forget. Read and review please!


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